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Federation Commander A NEW fast paced board game of starship combat!
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eblack Lieutenant JG
Joined: 29 May 2007 Posts: 50
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 9:57 pm Post subject: Fed nacells question |
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This is primarily about Fed minis. I've gotten over the years a number of versions of Fed ships, with the primary difference being nacells on pylons and what I would term "squashed-on" pylons.
I don't really know the reason for the change over the years (though I could imagine anything from Paramount influence to simply easier to mold) so I was wonderding what the plans were for future Fed ships. Will the nacells continue to be molded to the body or will we get classic nacell pylons in the future?
I noticed in at least one of the border packs a pyloned nacell ship is included and was wondering if it was making a come back. I think the future of my Fed mini's collection is based on this decision.
Thanks for any info. |
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djdood Commodore
Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 3413 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 11:00 pm Post subject: |
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I'm not sure I understood your question correctly, but I think you're asking why some minis like the Fed NCL/NCA and BB have the engine nacelle modeled in one piece with the saucer?
I've always assumed the reason for that is the same as why the Klingon booms and engines are now molded with the main hull: no assembly required. I'd assume the more compact shape is also easier to mold, but players not having to fuss with superglue or epoxy was probably the big driver.
If you look at the Fed NCL mini, it's ready to go after a little clean up. No gluing on of fiddly bits. Other than the stand, a player could literally take it out of the blister and start using it for a play piece immediately (if they aren't overly concerned with filing, painting, etc.).
The old NCL mini had a separate (tiny) engine arch and (really tiny) sensor dish you had to glue on. The old Fed CL mini was an even bigger pain (two tiny engines and a sensor dish).
The Klingon minis had separate booms and engines that had to be glued on (and the engines never stayed on for long - not enough surface area for a really strong bond to take hold).
The old Kzinti minis were simply a nightmare if you don't like tweezers...
The upside to the change is that the Fed NCL got its "size appropriate engines" as did several other ships (Fed FF, Fed CL, Klingon D-5, etc.) and other improvements. In some cases like the NCL I think they even ended up looking better (more compact, smaller profile, meaner looking).
The new Fed ships like the metal CA, CC, and CS, etc. are being made from metal masters made from modified old plastic mini parts (thickend in some places, etc.). This means the parts breakdown and build-up is the same as the old mini. The nacelles of the classic Trek Enterprise are notoriously hard to do in any modeling form (metal or plastic), so trying to combine them with the hull would've just caused a new round of pain. The thickened struts should keep them from having "engine sag" over time though. |
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Steve Cole Site Admin
Joined: 11 Oct 2006 Posts: 3831
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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Players told us they wanted fewer pieces, and more ships that were ready to use right out of the box, and ships that had parts to have easy to glue together small numbers of parts. _________________ The Guy Who Designed Fed Commander
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